The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-282466 and 2001-282465 both filed on Sep. 17, 2001 the entire contents thereof is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a winker device for a two-wheeled vehicle such as a motorcycle or the like and to a vehicular light-emitting device for emitting light on a motorcycle or the like.
2. Description of Background Art
One known winker device on a front vehicle portion of a motorcycle has a winker holder fixed to a steering handle or a front fork member, a support arm (winker support base) of a winker lamp which is attached to the winker holder, and a winker cord connected to the winker lamp, extending through the support arm of the winker lamp out of a portion of the support arm which is attached to the winker holder, and connected to a given location (Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. Sho 62-176902).
However, the above winker device has been problematic in that although the winker cord extends in the winker device up to the portion of the support arm that is attached to the winker holder, since the winker cord is exposed from the attached portion, the winker cord has a large exposed length. The visible wiring makes the winker device look crude and poor in appearance.
One conventional vehicular light-emitting device is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 2-21313. The disclosed vehicular light-emitting device has a light-emitting device body capable of emitting light in a forward direction which is a main light-emitting direction and a side direction substantially perpendicular to the forward direction. A cover is provided for fully covering the side of the light-emitting device body.
Another conventional vehicular light-emitting device includes a lens having a light-emitting front face and a light-emitting side face which are capable of emitting light. The vehicular light-emitting device is a structure wherein the light-emitting front face and the light-emitting side face are not covered with a cover or the like.
With the structure in which the side of the light-emitting device body is fully covered with the cover, light cannot be emitted sideways even if light needs to be emitted sideways for indicating directions or the like.
With the structure in which the light-emitting front face and the light-emitting side face are not covered with a cover or the like, emitted light may be applied to the driver, or rainwater may be applied directly to the light-emitting side face.
The present invention has been made in view of the above drawbacks. It is an object of the present invention to provide a winker device which has a winker cord including a reduced exposed length to provide a better appearance for the wiring and to provide better protection for the winker cord.
To achieve the above object, a winker device according to the present invention has a winker holder mounted on front fork members of a two-wheeled vehicle with a winker mounted on a side of the winker holder by a winker support base. A winker cord extends from the winker through the winker support base. The winker holder includes a plurality of holder members disposed in surrounding and sandwiching relation to the outer circumference of each of the front fork members. The winker cord is inserted through a cord insertion hole defined in each of the holder members and extends out of said winker holder.
With the above winker device, the winker cord extends from the winker support base of the winker supported on a side of the winker holder which comprises the plural holder members mounted on each of the front fork members and is inserted through the cord insertion hole defined in each of the holder members and extends out of said winker holder. Therefore, the visible exposed length of the winker cord is reduced. Thus, the winker cord has a better appearance and is better protected and is simplified in the structure of the wiring for the winker cord.
In the winker device according to the present invention the winker holder comprises two holder members disposed in front of and behind each of the front fork members and each having a side positioned outwardly of the front fork member. The winker cord extends from said one side to the other side through an annular groove of a cord insertion hole defined in one of the holder members and is exposed inwardly of the front fork member from the other side.
With this winker device, since the winker cord is exposed from the winker holder inwardly of the front fork member, the winker cord has a better appearance and is better protected.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular light-emitting device which is capable of emitting light sideways, preventing emitted light from being applied to the driver, and also preventing rainwater from being applied directly to a light-emitting side face.
To achieve the above object, a vehicular light-emitting device includes a light-emitting device body (e.g., a light-emitting device body 694 in the embodiment) having a light-emitting front face (e.g., a light-emitting front face 690 in the embodiment) and a light-emitting side face (e.g., a light-emitting side face 691 in the embodiment) which are capable of emitting light. A cover (e.g., a cover 695 in the embodiment) is provided for covering only a portion of the light-emitting side face of the light-emitting device body.
Since the cover covers only a portion of the light-emitting side face of the light-emitting device body, the light-emitting side face which is not covered with the cover is capable of emitting light sideways. If the cover covers an upper surface of the light-emitting side face, then it prevents emitted light from being applied from the light-emitting side face to the driver, and if the cover covers an area above the light-emitting side face, then it prevents rainwater from being applied directly to the light-emitting side face.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.